Tennessee House guns bill sponsor says he misspoke

NASHVILLE - The main House sponsor of a bill seeking to guarantee handgun permit holders the right to store firearms in their vehicles says he misspoke when he suggested that he routinely breaks the law.

Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison, of Cosby, told WPLN-FM that while he's never obtained a state-issued permit, he's "carried a gun all [his] life."

"One day I'll probably get caught if I don't get a permit, and I'll get in trouble," he told the public radio station.

Faison told The Associated Press on Monday that what he meant to say was that he transports a gun inside his car, which does not require a permit as long as ammunition is stored separately from the firearm.

"What I was saying is routinely I have a gun in my car, and that's not illegal in Tennessee," he said in a phone interview. "It just came out wrong. I have a gun in my car -- we weren't talking about me carrying a gun."

Faison and Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, of Blountville, are the main sponsors of the bill to prohibit businesses from banning people with handgun carry permits from storing weapons in cars parked on company lots.

The proposal is opposed by the business community on the ground that it interferes with their property rights. The Senate version is scheduled for a hearing in the Judiciary Committee this afternoon.